The Irish standard., 1887-04-23
The PATRIOT JOHN DILLON.
A Pen Picture Of this Famous Member Of
Parliament and Champion
of Ireland.
A MOST INTERESTING CHkRAC TER
The Influence Bxorted by John Dillon
in the Conversion of English
Statesmen.

An enthusiastic chrOnlCler, Wrltlng
recently Of Mr.. John Dillon, Iilzened
him to q portrait by =Velasquez. The
comparison is not unhappy. There is
distinctly Spanish about Mr.
Dillon's appearance, about his dark
hair and eyes. his olive skin and the
more than Castjlian gravity Of his bear
ing, Such a face might we'll look down
upon the wanderer from one of the can
vases upon which the greatest portrait
painter III the world has recorded the
history of a golden age and a mighty
empire. Such face suggests at once
some high hidalgo of the most ancient
blood of Arvagon and CASTLE, with
more copulative Y's in his sonorous
catalogue of names than all The other
letters Of the alphabet put together.
SBouvrons-nous Grands d'Espagne.
"Cover. gentlefolk of SPAIN" Surely
this dark haired son Of the South has
the right to wear his hat Ill the presence
of any monarch. Surely sorne Spanish
blood must run in the. Dill! IN veins.
Spanish blood is not too rare in Ireland.
There are many, very many, places
where you can note at once tie lberail
eyes and hair. but never has any Irish
man yet looked more distinctly Spanish
than John Dillon.
Foreign critics of the Irish ParEa-
mentary party have occasionally COM
planned OF the disappointing effect pro-
duced upon them by the first sight Of
that famous body. Looking upon that
party asa revolutionary party they ex
pected, 1t would seem, to look upon
men who seemed thoroughly like reye-
lutionaries. What they precisely ex
pected it would be nard to say they
could hardly have looked for caps OF
liberty and .pikeheads, for hair worn d
la gui|lotine, Or for any ct the other
paraphernalia usually associated with
Revolution, witt a large E. But it
would appear that these alien critics
are surprised to find that the Irish Par
party are altogether very
much like any other party, and would
never be known for the desperate feI-
lows they really are by any outward
and visible symbolism Of dress or de-
meanor. MI. Parnell is not in the least
like the head Of a revolutionary synod.
Mr.. Pierce Mahoney has few points in
common with MaraJ, and Mr.. L. ?.
appearance does not at all
call up blood curdling suggestions of a
committee Of public safety. But as the
beholder, allowing jaded
eve to travel listlessly along the packed
lines of the Parnellite benches, cones
to Mr.. Dillon, he cheers up visibly. In
that dark, handsome face, shaded by
such midnight hair, he sees q counten-
ance more in keeping with his precon.
caiyad ideas of revolutionary party.
Such man. he thinks, might really
have taken the chair at q Jacobin con-
vention; might have sternly voted "ls
mort sans phrase;;' might have headed
the last banquet of Girondists, Or sat On
the highest summit of the mountain.
And so, having seen Mr.. John Dillon,
the intelligent foreigner goes away
happy.
It is exceedingly interesting to watch
Mr.. Dillon during the progress of some
stormy debate. Niched generally in the
corner seat of the third bench above the
gangway, but one remove from the
place which tradition has now allowed
as the chosen abiding place Of Mr.. Par
nell, he sits and surveys the battle with
folded arms. Gravely, impassiyely,
with no shade of emotion manifesting
itself upon his changeless face he leans
back and lets the most furious debate
rage around him, blowing with all it's
winds. and manifests neither impa.
tience nor anger. AS tranquil and as
stoical as the Sphynx, be never allows
himself to he carried away by the wild
gusts Of Indignation which sometimes
sweep away the composure Of more ex-
citable colleagues. The statue of the
Commander in the wild Giovanni }e-
gend is not more icily serene, more pas
sionless than he appears to be. It is
this very quality of concentrated re-
serve which gives John Dillon his great
strength. For when he rises to speak he
carries with him into his oratorythe same
air Of intense earnestness, so quiet, so
calm, SO steady: that his very tranquil
ity lends most impressive power to
every syllable he utters. Englishmen
accustomed to, or always confidently
the fiery emotions of the
Celtic stock, are amazed, baf1ed, and
finally profoundly impressed by the
tragic composure of Mr.. Dillon's bear
ing. Every word that falls from those
quiet lips, every expression that stirs